Urban fine particulate matter exposure causes male reproductive injury through destroying blood-testis barrier (BTB) integrity.

Toxicol Lett

Department of Pediatric Urology Surgery, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, China International Science and Technology Cooperation base of Child development and Critical Disorders, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Pediatrics, Chongqing, 400014, China. Electronic address:

Published: January 2017

Blood-testis barrier (BTB) provides a suitable microenvironment for germ cells that is required for spermatogenesis. Exposure to particulate matter (PM) is recognized to occasion male reproductive impairment, but the mechanism of which remains unclear. Male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were used to establish animal models with PM exposure concentration of 0, 10, and 20mg/kg.b.w. once a day for four weeks. Success rate of mating, sperm quality, epididymal morphology, expressions of spermatogenesis markers, superoxide dismutases (SOD) activity and expression in testicular tissues, and expressions of BTB junction proteins were detected. In addition, in vitro experiments were also performed. After PM treatment, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and apoptosis of Sertoli cells were analyzed. Our results indicated that after PM exposure male rats presented inferior uberty and sperm quality, with decreased expressions of spermatogenesis markers, escalated SOD activity and expression levels, and reduced expressions of tight junction, adherens junction, and gap junction proteins in testicular tissues. Meantime, PM-treated Sertoli cells displayed increased SOD production and apoptosis. PM exposure engenders male reproductive function injury through breaking BTB integrity.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.toxlet.2016.12.004DOI Listing

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